During the unique level 4 lockdown openroad environment with far fewer vehicles on the road, Scania New Zealand gathered some intriguing insights into the time and cost savings made across its nationwide monitored fleet of more than 1100 trucks. Drivers needed to apply/use their brakes up to 20% fewer times, which translated into an average speed increase of 4kph due to maintained momentum. This smoother operation of vehicles resulted in fuel savings for some operators of 5% or more. In real terms that meant saving up to 70 litres of diesel over a week or nearly $100 per vehicle. For a business with a fleet of 20 trucks, this represented a potential $2000 weekly saving on the fuel bill alone.

By far the most valuable saving achieved though, for both drivers and businesses, was time. For typical long-haul runs in and out of large metropolitan areas, a daily time saving of more than one hour was recorded in many cases. One of the most important benefits from these time savings – that‘s a bit more difficult to put a dollar value on – was the reduction in drivers‘ stress and fatigue levels. The combined benefits of the smoother operation of vehicles due to less braking, as well a reduction in on-road running time, also generated significant benefits and savings in the form of reduced wear and tear and maintenance costs.